A Romantic Marriageby Pastor Faith Oyedepo, Week 1, September, 2008

A Romantic Marriage

Dear Reader,

I welcome you to the 9th month of the year, a month of delivery of great things in your home. The greatest marriage killer is when husband and/or wife do not give adequate time and attention to their marriage. There is no aspect of your marriage that is not important. So, you need to nurture all aspects of your marriage.

This month, I will be taking a look at A Romantic Marriage. This Week, I will be sharing with you on the need for A Romantic Marriage.

Romance is one of the vital reasons for setting up the home. When marriage lacks romance, it starts suffering disintegration, God’s Word says: Nevertheless, to avoid fornication, let every man have his own wife, and let every woman have her own husband But if they cannot contain, let them marry: for it is better to marry than to burn (1 Corinthians 7:2 &9). Romance is God’s tool for preserving marriage. One of the reasons for marriage is “to avoid fornication”.

We find out that some relationships are often romantic in the beginning, but as time passes and couples become distracted by other things—work, children, bills, the house—they often take each other for granted. Marriage is not a net to catch a prey. It is meant to be an improvement on courtship.

Love grows, but not on its own. Love is not static; love is not stagnant. It is the responsibility of the man and his wife to make it grow. Husband and wife must learn to be romantic. Women yearn for continued courtship in the context of marriage. You need to continue to do those things you used to do before marriage and make it a way of life (1 Corinthians 7:3-5).

The Bible says: Nevertheless, to avoid fornication, let every man have his own wife, and let every woman have her own husband (1 Corinthians 7:2). The word “have” doesn’t only mean to marry; it also means let him enjoy his own wife. Rendering “due benevolence” means to give him or her the benefit of marriage, which is your body. A husband and wife are to offer their bodies to one another. If a woman does not give her body to her husband, another person will, and vice versa.

God put in man a sexual desire, which should only be satisfied in marriage. That way, the desire will not be destructive. A sexually inactive marriage is heading for destruction. It is not of God, but of the devil, if a woman is praying when her husband needs her. When a husband starts speaking in tongues at the time his wife needs him, he is courting trouble. This is where, I believe, some Christians have opened the door to trouble in their homes.

If the man is not available for his wife, she will look somewhere else. When the wife is not available for the man, he may go somewhere else, because the burning must be satisfied. The Bible says you mustn’t allow your abstinence go beyond a time. Nobody fasts for one year. Learn to analyze Scriptures. The Bible says you can keep away from each other only for the reason of prayer and fasting. How long should prayer and fasting last? Jesus, the Messiah of the world, only fasted for forty days. That means you are permitted only forty days licence to separate and come together again, lest Satan tempts you.

A healthy romance between a husband and wife makes for a healthy home and relationship. Romance is a great facilitator of a successful marriage. The moment you stop desiring your spouse, you are already falling apart from each other. Lester Sumrall wrote a book entitled, 60 Things God Said About Sex. These are men who had and enjoyed Christian homes.

To tell your wife today, “I am waiting on the Lord”, tomorrow, “I am waiting on the Lord”, next week, “I am waiting on the Lord,” is not the best. When you finish waiting, you won’t find anybody again. Most crises in homes develop out of sexual tension. Romance in marriage is one of the areas you must intelligibly manage, because it reinforces the marriage covenant.

What Satan does is to sometimes use seemingly legitimate reasons, such as job opportunities, to separate couples. Whatever moves a man from his wife is Satan's way of luring them into adultery. He wants to draw them out of their Garden of Eden to the wilderness, so they will become wanderers.

Many homes have been ruined because the man is working in America or England and leaves his wife back in Nigeria. This is an open invitation to Satan. Matthew 19:6 says: Wherefore they are no more twain, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder.

Until you are born again, you don’t have what it takes to express the kind of love God expect you to demonstrate in your home. You get born again by confessing your sins and accepting Jesus as your Saviour and your Lord. If you are ready to be saved, please say this prayer: Dear Lord, I come to You today. I am a sinner. Forgive me my sins. Cleanse me with Your precious Blood. I accept You as my Lord and Saviour. Now I know I am born again!

Call or write, and share your testimonies with me through:

E-mail: faithdavid@yahoo.com Tel. No: 234-1-7747546-8;

For more insight, these books authored by Pastor Faith Oyedepo are available at the Dominion Book Stores in all Living Faith Churches and other leading Christian book stores.

 Marriage Covenant

 Making Marriage Work

 Building a Successful Family

 Single With A Difference

 Success in Marriage (Co-Authored with Bishop David Oyedepo).